Doc Fellows Regatta is ON for Sunday January 7, 2018. First Start 11:00 am.

Location is Ashumet Pond in Mashpee, MA on Cape Cod. Launching from state boat ramp on west side of pond. Go over the Cape Cod Canal via the Bourne Bridge on Rt 28. Take Rt 151 off of Rt 28 towards Mashpee and go about 7 miles on Rt 151 then left on to Sandwich St. Go about 2 miles up Sandwich St to entrance for boat ramp on right. First race 11am.

Steve Madden
Regatta Chairman

All,

Reports have been coming in. For most of us the great building ice has lots of drifting white stuff on top. The Cape however has been pretty much spared. For those that are not from around here “The Cape” is Cape Cod located in the Bay State of Massachusetts.

There has been a lot of scouting on the Cape today and people are going to be sailing Ashumet Pond in Mashpee, MA tomorrow. The site has not been completely scouted but it has been reported by a very reliable source to have 6″ near the ramp and no open water in usual places. Launch state ramp on west side. Surface is 1/4″ high snow ice grade 7.

Other areas have been scouted today and we are awaiting reports. The intent is to find a location and hold the Don Doc Fellows Regatta on Sunday. Where exactly is TBD. Ice will be hard to hit the stones tonight.

If you know of anything please report in via our regular ice report email channel or drop me an email.

Think Ice,

John
DN5023
john@neiya.org

Ice Opti Re-Defined

Posted on January 2, 2018 by billbuchholz
John Mandryk, as his name suggests, has long held a fascination for Dutch Ice yachts. Their heavy timbers, bow sprits and tops’ls are lovely, and the absolute antithesis of the modern ice boat. They persist in Holland, however, and each year a few more are built in spite of the trend toward warmer winters.
John, who sails on Deep Creek, Maryland, high in the norther Appalachians put his yacht together over the past couple of years.

In spite of the snow and light wind he reports that it sails ok, but looks forward to better conditions for more complete sea trials.
Speaking of Maryland, good ice is now reported as far south as Atlantic City, and it might just keep on southbound if this weather continues. Great South Bay on Long Island is frozen shore to shore, and there has been some sailing on the Navesink at Red Bank but the snow that’s supposed to whallop us here in New England Thursday is hitting there, as well. Could we be holding the NA’s in Annapolis again?

Posted in 2018 Season | Ice Opti Re-Defined

James “T” Thieler
12 Channing St.
Newport, RI 02840

401 258 6230
t_thieler

Miller and Kaiser and Co. Found some ice out on LI…. salty…. I’m guessing North Fork…. send a report in boys!!! And who does #3747 belong to?

Hello All- Whether you were sailing the last few days or not, no matter how devoted you are to getting on the ice at every conceivable opportunity, you most likely aren’t sailing tonight. So take a break and warm up and watch the Volvo Ocean Race leg start from Melbourne to Hong Kong.

The weather, wind direction, current, and geography of Port Philip Bay where the start is should make for an interesting departure to say the least!

The starting gun is at 10:00PM EST, coverage should start around 9:30PM or so.

See if they all get off the line and out of the harbor, have a discussion with friends about how we obviously could have done it much better, rest up and back on the ice ASAP!

Happy Viewing! Click below for details. Think ICE!

How to follow the Leg 4 start

This just in from the gang on LI- If it’s too cold and/or windy to sail hit this meeting- sounds like it’ll be an interesting one! Looking forward to finding out who the secret mystery guest speaker will be….

TO ALL:

LESS THAN 48 HOURS TO OUR FIRST CLUB MEETING.

Some of us have already sailed this season.

Tuesday Jan. 2, 2018 @ Weeks Yacht Yard @ 7:00 PM.
Free refreshments!

See attachment for directions.

We have special guest speakers that will share their
DN World Regatta experience. Don’t miss out on their
tips and suggestions. The DN Nationals are scheduled
to be held in the North East this year and it is an event
for everyone, not just racers.
Temps look good for the 2018 LONG ISLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS.
BIG REGATTAS
Jan-6 NEIYA Doc Fellows DN Regatta Steve Madden (Dates May Vary)

Jan 13-14 IDNIYRA Eastern Lakes Championship Chad Atkins (Dates May Vary)

Jan 21-27 IDNIYRA North American Championship IDNIYRA & Chad Atkins (Come Hell Or High Water)
Feb 10-11 NEIYA New England DN Championship Steve Madden (Dates May Vary)

Feb 24-Mar 3 IDNIYRA Gold Cup and European Championships

Estonia (Where the hell is Estonia? But dates locked in)

Here’s your chance to PAY YOUR DUES! Get ahead by
supporting your club with your $15 2018 membership.
It’s due by Jan. 2, 2018. Don’t miss out on any
“ICE ALERT!” ice reports for the upcoming season.

If you are a NEW member, please fill out BOTH SIDES

of the included NEW membership form.

Bring the family(wife,kids,mom, dad, dog)…
Bring a friend(girl,boy,dog)…
Bring an alien.

Show your neighbors how NUTS you are…

John Ziermann DN-5426/Gambit/LS-45

WeeksYachtYard.pdf
LRIBYC-Membership-Application.pdf

Hello All- Just a heads-up that you have until midnight tonight to register early for the DN NA Champs and save $40 bucks! I know this will appeal appeal to all of us frugal New Englanders so before you head out for your New Years Eve parties take a few minutes and get signed up for this regatta. Easy to do online (even I did it without assistance!) and you’ll be glad you did!
The New England Region is hosting this year so we need a strong local turnout- so drag that DN out of the garage and plan on going!

Also give me a shout at 401 258 6230 if you are interested in volunteering to help run the regatta. Can always use more helping hands so let me know.
Details below. Think ICE!!
REGISTRATION, DEADLINE AND FEE

• Each skipper shall register on: na.idniyra.org or by mailing a completed entry form available on na.idniyra.org, with the appropriate entry fee to: see entry form for registration by regular mail.
• Entry Fee shall be paid in U.S. Dollars.
• The entry fee is $80.00 (USD) if paid by December 31, 2017. The entry fee for a junior skipper (under 25 years of age) is $50.00.
• The entry fee is $120 (USD) if paid on or after January 1, 2018. The entry fee for a junior skipper (under 25 years of age) is $75.00.
• No entry fee will be accepted after the close of registration (refer to schedule of events) When regatta location moves, prior to the first race, registration may be reopened.
• Novice Entries
  • Novice DN skippers may enter the Regatta with the payment of two years association dues. No other event registration payments shall apply.
  • A sailor shall be classified as a Novice if: that person has never belonged to the IDNIYRA, or their membership has lapsed for 5 or more years. A Novice must comply with all other entry requirements.
• http://na.idniyra.org/2018na/

James “T” Thieler

12 Channing St.

Newport, RI 02840

401 258 6230

t_thieler

Bill Converse Behind the camera 2012 Mallets Bay VT

Yes, Maryland. To begin, the weather in the northeast in that year had been one of those loony years with much snow, and cold weather. The Eastern Region Hosts were trying to find a suitable site for a DN N.A. and World Championship. A retired New Jersey iceboat sailor, Homer Sieder (who had retired to Maryland) in desperation called the regatta committee suggesting this site. It was a huge bay of brackish water. They had some cold, warm rain, and then very cold, builcli up about a foot of salt water ice with hard ice on top.

Few of the active N.E. group had ventured to something like a world championship. A few N.E. Sailors had been to the Easterns in N.J. Most of our racing was scrub racing on local ponds like Norton eservoir, Quanipowitt, Nipinickett, Winnicunett, Webster Lake, etc. W did have our two regattas. I0-15 short races a day was not uncommon, on both Saturday. You got tuned up!

Iceboat design had evolved with go fast changes to the Sarns DN design. The following are my recollection of changes.

1. Seat Back over or slightly in back of the runner plank.
2. Lowering the mast hound to where it is now. Running the mast with no side slop, and straighter to get more mast bend. Adjustment of boom-mast pressure was critical.
3. Mast step moved back, keeping the center of effort over the runner plank center.
4. Flatter bull nose runners, with more edge on the ice, and Alignment of the boat, as well as the runners.
5. Sail Battens were wood, and had to be sanded to the right flex to control sail shape.

Some of our local sailors had become very friendly with the top New Jersey sailors. They had been helping getting a few guys going fast. Henry Bassett was making fast DN sails, as was Hard Sails. Most of us in southern New England used Kenyon Sails.

In the spring of 1976 some of us went to Lake Wallenpaupak in Pennsylvania for the Sweepstakes, and sailed well, encouraging us to go further. Thus we decided to try the Worlds and N.A. Championships the next year. I completely rebuilt the boat I had been sailing including the go fast features listed above. We were shocked when to learn we were going south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

St. Michael has a beautiful yacht club which was the racing headquarters. The N.J. group ran the races. In those days they ran qualification races to determine the 39 races for the final, and consolation race(s) weather and time permitting. The final was 45 boats with the 6 region champions as automatic qualifiers. There were three qualification races for this regatta. I qualified on the second race but was disqualified because my mast measured 1/8″ over length. I had to race in the consolation race.

We arrived at the ice on Friday mid-morning. We set our boats up and did some shoreline tuning. Wind was good, ice hard, everyone looked forward to the next day. Friday night a front went through, with some light snow. Saturday morning it blew like stink. 30-40 MPH. The course was huge. We didn’t sail to the race course; we stood in the cockpit and let the wind blow us down the ice to the start line. It was estimated the course was 1.25 miles or more. The wind never abated throughout the day. A few guys tried to scrub race but were out of control. There were many broken boats, mast, planks. Gougeon Goo was becoming popular but a lot of people didn’t know how to build with it. The wind never subsided enough to race that day. We sailed back to the HQ, hanging on.

The next day the wind was still strong, but raceable. They ran the qualifiers. The racing was fun, if you liked high wind racing, and were in shape. The day brought very tiring conditions and lots of broken equipment.

The next day 5 N.A. championship races were run, and a consolation race. They ran the consolation race after the third championship race. Another consolation race was run at the finish of the championship races. The N.A. Championships were over.

The next day was the World Championship. It was completely different (warm). A lot of people left. Bright sunny skies, 50-70 degree temps. Everyone raced. The ice softened after three races, and they cancelled the rest of the racing. Henry Bossett won his first World Championship. By the next day all the Ice was gone.

There was a bit of comedy to the event. The locals had never seen anything like iceboats before. They were trying to buy various boats, and offering cash for them. A fellow offered me $1000.00 for my boat. It was tempting. A N.J. sailor showed up Saturday with a pickup truck loaded with Skimmer 45S. He sold them all, in a short order. A few new MD iceboaters did venture north for some of the later regattas. I met them in Ohio, and Vermont. They sailed with the NJ group I believe.

We loaded up our gear that night and went to the motel. That night I was very sick from the tension of it all. But it was a very memorable affair. I am sure others have their recollections, but this is how I remember the regatta(s) south of the Mason Dixon Line.

Bill Converse
DN2804

P.S. Just in case you don’t believe there ever was a DN championship in MD there is an article from the Washington Post . Seems they didn’t have any pictures either.

Bill has belonged to the NEIYA from the very beginnings and a key contributor for all that time. He served as Race Committee Chairman for seventeen years from 1983 to 1999. Since handing over Race Committee duties to the next generation, Bill has focused on sailing and taking pictures. His pictures and picture galleries have been featured online as well as in print. Bill’s Pictures http://theneiya.org/2012_pictures/ Many of us can thank Bill for that great shot rounding a mark or screaming across the finish line. We look forward to seeing Bill out on the ice again this year.

Spotted somewhere on the other side of the dateline…. Hope everyone gets what they asked for!

Happy Holidays everyone! Think ICE!

Charles Silvenius reports from Lake Wentworth in Wolfboro, NH: 4 boats on the lake today several patches of grade 9 Ice. 3 inches of ice by point Breeze and camp Pierce Birchmont. This was the last area to freeze. That’s the good news. Here’s the rest of the story from NOAA:

Happy Winter Solstice! The official first day of Winter. Our season. Celebrated from the very dawn of civilization not for the vast sheets of ice we call our playground but rather the return of the sun and its path to warmer weather. But we (iceboaters) mark it as the beginning not the end.

If not for the 23.5° tilt in the earth’s axis ice would not come to us each Winter. Most of us would be traveling even further than we already are. The axial tilt brings us the seasons. Summer, Winter, and in between. It brings our ice and our winter passion.

Speaking of tilt, could additional speed be attained by setting one’s mast rake to 23.5° in alignment with the earth’s axis? For those not in the elite part of the Gold Fleet, it’s worth a try.

THINK ICE and Happy Winter!

John